Chapter 345: Gao Yiye’s Idea
Chapter 345: Gao Yiye’s Idea
The ship’s bottom cabin housed the battery compartment, filled with batteries that powered the entire model ship.
Solar panels were installed atop the cabin roof, connected to the batteries below via wiring through a “constant current constant voltage charging circuit” concealed within the cabin walls, allowing the batteries to recharge.
Of course, solar charging was inefficient and slow.
During voyages, the battery drained, and only when stationary could the charge increase.
Even so, it remained remarkably practical.
Cai Xinzi pointed at the “rudder wheel” on the bow and laughed. “Try turning this.”
Li Daoxuan gently nudged the “rudder wheel” with his finger, and the stern rudder rotated in response.
“See? Perfect steering control.”
Cai Xinzi chuckled. “At this scale, adding such features is child’s play! Haha.”
Li Daoxuan couldn’t help but admire it internally. Measuring fifteen centimeters long, this ship’s size allowed Cai Xinzi to incorporate intricate details—far surpassing what was possible with the earlier, tiny solar-powered cars.
“This ship is exceptionally well-made.” Li Daoxuan patted Cai Xinzi’s shoulder. “Hey, Old Cai—I’d like ten more of this caliber.”
Cai Xinzi frowned. “For collecting, one is enough. Why would you need ten?”
Li Daoxuan grinned mischievously. “The garden pond in my villa—I plan to deploy these ships into a grand formation and stage a naval battle.”
Cai Xinzi rolled her eyes. “A grown man playing war games like a child? No wonder you’re still single. You’ve yet to mature. Follow my example: forsake childish pursuits, commit to romance. That is what matures a man.”
Li Daoxuan scoffed. “I prefer eternal youth. You? You’ve entered the tomb of matrimony—your time is over.”
As they bickered, a sudden realization struck Li Daoxuan: their squabbling mirrored the dynamic between Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu.
He opened his high school alumni group and typed: “Classmates—for over a decade, one question haunted me: what nicknames did you give me and Cai Xinzi back in high school?”
The class monitor instantly replied: “Big Fool and Second Fool.”
Li Daoxuan thudded face-first onto the floor. Orz.
After Cai Xinzi left, Li Daoxuan returned to the second-floor box—left hand balancing a plate of cold stir-fried instant noodles, right hand clutching the model ship.
Settling by the box, he pondered: The ship is ready, but its guns are dummies. Unacceptable. The Little People must forge real cannons soon to replace these replicas.
He needed an update on Gaojia Village’s “Red Flag Cannons” project.
Time to locate Gao Yiye!
The lookout tower? Absent!
The fabric shop? Not there either!
After circling the village, he finally spotted her inside the Gaojia Business Circle’s brothel—joined by Qiu Ju and Dong Xue, leisurely exploring the premises.
Alarmed, he exclaimed: “Yiye! What are you doing in a brothel?!”
“Oh, Deity! You’re here!” Gao Yiye looked up brightly. “We’re evaluating this building. Surely it can serve a better purpose.”
Li Daoxuan replied sternly: “This structure should’ve been demolished long ago.”
Gao Yiye countered: “Qiu Ju and Dong Xue do advocate tearing it down. But I believe a building is just an inanimate shell—like a knife. Used to chop vegetables, it’s useful; used to kill, it’s evil. The knife itself isn’t wrong; the wielder is.”
Li Daoxuan chuckled. “Well now—a budding philosopher!”
Flushing slightly, she protested: “Deity, don’t tease me!”
He relented. “Fine. What ‘good purpose’ do you envision?”
Gao Yiye responded eagerly. “Teaching women practical skills!”
Puzzled, he asked: “But we already have schools?”
“Not literacy, math, or scientific subjects—skills like weaving, embroidery, tailoring, cooking.”
He finally understood: She meant vocational schools.
Gao Yiye continued: “Many village women now earn income through their skills, but many more remain untrained. They’re anxious. Several approached me desperate to learn, yet the artisans’ well district offers nothing suitable—their trades cater to men: blacksmithing, carpentry.”
Li Daoxuan connected the dots.
Indeed, Gaojia Village’s women were awakening. They recognized skills meant financial independence and improved status but found no avenue—since the artisans’ well prioritized male-dominated crafts. Departments for textiles, embroidery, or tailoring didn’t exist. Learning required finding peers haphazardly. Hence, Gao Yiye’s proposal: repurpose the brothel into a women’s vocational school.
Li Daoxuan praised warmly. “Yiye, that’s brilliant. However, we shouldn’t use the brothel building—its tainted symbolism may discourage learners. Instead… we’ll erect a dedicated women’s vocational school.”
Gao Yiye’s eyes widened. “A technical school solely for women? Such… significance granted to us?”
The two brothel girls stood stunned. Though aware of the Deity’s compassion in freeing them from suffering, they’d never fathomed a grand school elevating women as men’s equals.
Truthfully, Li Daoxuan envisioned a coeducational vocational school—housing crafts for all genders. But given the era’s restraints on women, segregation initially would ease their participation: an all-female environment mitigated hesitancy, encouraging entry. Graduation meant rebirth.
“Leave the school construction to me,” Li Daoxuan instructed. “No more brothel visits. Head to the artisans’ well instead—I request a report on our Red Flag Cannons’ progress.”
Gao Yiye nodded obediently and strode toward the artisans’ well, trailed by Qiu Ju and Dong Xue.
Shortly, they arrived.
As Gao Yiye entered, every craftsman snapped alert—knowing her presence signaled the Deity’s scrutiny. Slackers scrambled upright, transforming instantly into models of diligence.